As tight as the CCHA standings were this season, it is perhaps surprising that there was only one upset in the first round of the Mason Cup quarterfinals.
And, even more shocking to this reporter, is that none of the four series needed to go to a decisive third game.
You have Ferris State to thank for that.
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs needed a pair of overtime games, but in the end, Ferris State swept third-seeded Bowling Green to advance past the playoff quarterfinal round for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels, in his 30th season behind the Bulldogs bench, said he knew it had been a few seasons since his team qualified for the playoff semifinals. He just didn’t realize it had been seven years.
“I didn’t actually realize that until someone told me after the game,” Daniels said. “Obviously, the guys haven’t been here that long, but I was really happy for the guys, particularly our juniors and seniors, to finally get past the first round.”
The last time the Bulldogs won a first-round playoff series, they swept Northern Michigan en route to a Cinderella run in the WCHA Final Five as a No. 4 seed. That year the Bulldogs upset top-seeded Michigan Tech and second-seeded Minnesota State to win the Broadmoor Trophy and gain an NCAA tournament berth.
As it happens, 2015-16 was also Ferris’ last winning season. This year’s team is 14-18-4 overall and likely won’t finish above .500, but it shows the progress they have made since the program’s low point in 2020-21.
“What I was so happy about for them is, I thought we had a pretty good year all along but then the last four games of the regular season we stubbed our toe,” Daniels said. “We were still in the hunt for third but then we got it handed to us pretty good at Northern Michigan with two weeks left, then lost two at home to Lake State, and I just didn’t want that to be the way we ended the year. I didn’t want that to define our season when really, our season was pretty good.”
The pair of overtime wins helped the Bulldogs ensure that there would at least be one or two happy memories before the season is done. Freshman Nick Nardecchia scored on a rebound goal 14 minutes into the extra period to win game one, while in game two it was senior Jason Brancheau who ended it after four minutes.
“It was a pretty physical series,” Daniels said. “We were pretty wiped out. I wanted no part of a game three. And I think the guys felt the same way. There was almost more pressure on us Saturday [to get it done] as opposed to Friday.”
The reward for defeating the Falcons is a trip to Mankato, where they will take on Minnesota State in a one-game semifinal on Saturday. Nobody likes playing at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Events Center, but the Bulldogs have already won there twice this season.
“They obviously have great forwards, but the real strength of their team is the ‘D’ corps,” Daniels said. “I think they’re the ones that kind of push that team. They’re the real engines. We’re going to have to work to get our chances.”
UP rivalry battle on deck
Ferris State’s win over Bowling Green also had the unintended consequence of setting up one of college hockey’s fiercest rivalries in the other semifinal.
Second-seeded Michigan Tech will host fourth-seeded Northern Michigan, meaning that the teams will face off for the fifth time this season. The Huskies went 3-1 over the Wildcats this season, with NMU’s lone win coming in a 4-3 overtime win in Marquette.
NMU head coach Grant Potulny said he knows how hard the Huskies are to play and the fact that his team has struggled against Tech in recent years, going 8-19 since he took over in 2017-18. The teams have also met three times in the conference tournament since then. Tech beat Northern 2-0 in the 2018 WCHA championship game in Marquette. They also swept the Huskies in a series in Marquette during the first round of the CCHA playoffs in 2020.
“That record’s a little crazy because you look at rivalries and it’s never like that,” he said in his weekly media conference on Tuesday. “And you know in a lot of the years, we finished higher than them in the standings, so that almost just doesn’t compute. So, I think (this series is) going to be a great opportunity for us to continue our season, and there’s no greater way for our seniors than this opportunity.”
The Wildcats (20-16-0) seem to be playing their best hockey right now. Since being swept by Tech at the end of January, they are 8-2 and have won six in a row, including their playoff series against Bemidji State. They won 7-3 in Friday’s opener before closing out the sweep when David Keefer scored in overtime to earn a win.
During this ten-game span, they’ve scored 44 goals, with Andre Ghantous responsible for eight of them and Joey Larson seven.
“This week, we talked about ‘Mr. March,’” Potulny said following Saturday’s game. “We need a bunch of ‘Mr. Marches.’ And when you have guys playing their best at that time of the year, you have a chance to go on a run. I thought Andre had a great weekend, (goaltender Beni Halasz) had a great weekend, Keefer had a huge goal. That’s what you need to get by people, especially at the end of the year.”
